"I think we ought to read only the kind of books that wound and stab us. If the book we are reading doesn't wake us up with a blow on the head, what are we reading it for? ...we need the books that affect us like a disaster, that grieve us deeply, like the death of someone we loved more than ourselves, like being banished into forests far from everyone, like a suicide. A book must be the axe for the frozen sea inside us."
-Kafka
Wednesday, November 9, 2011
JSF loves letters
Sorry for bombarding you with posts, but tonight I'm getting my first real dose of Internet in over a week.
I came across this interesting article in NY Magazine about JSF post EII. It talks about some of his "projects" (including the empty page project). Give it a read here.
I liked the part of this article when he talks about all the different people he sent/sends letters to. When I first read Extremely Loud I was in Paris with my parents, terrible internet and no TV, so after reading the book I just wanted to send letters to people. I needed to talk to different people. After writing letters to all my friends I started writing them to my favorite celebrities and authors (yes, including Foer). I got a couple things back--an autograph from Sugarland and Amanda Seyfreid and a letter from Didi Benami (she was my favorite on American Idol a couple years ago)--so for me it worked out pretty well I thought. One of my favorite things about Foer is his love for letters. I still write letters to people. If what I had to say didn't so often require an immediate response, I would always write letters.
I liked the part of this article when he talks about all the different people he sent/sends letters to. When I first read Extremely Loud I was in Paris with my parents, terrible internet and no TV, so after reading the book I just wanted to send letters to people. I needed to talk to different people. After writing letters to all my friends I started writing them to my favorite celebrities and authors (yes, including Foer). I got a couple things back--an autograph from Sugarland and Amanda Seyfreid and a letter from Didi Benami (she was my favorite on American Idol a couple years ago)--so for me it worked out pretty well I thought. One of my favorite things about Foer is his love for letters. I still write letters to people. If what I had to say didn't so often require an immediate response, I would always write letters.
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